When any artist releases something that is supposed to define
\ntheir career, there will almost always be moments that are stellar
\nand moments that are forgettable in the set. All year long, we’ve
\nbeen looking at Frank Zappa’s six-volume, 12-disc career
\nretrospective
\nYou Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore<\/i>… and I think it’s safe
\nto say that
\nVolume 5<\/i> (hereafter referred to as
\nYCDTOSA5<\/i>) is the portion of the set that is the most
\nforgettable.<\/p>\n
Each disc is dedicated to two separate periods in Zappa’s
\ntouring band history. The first disc focuses on the Mothers Of
\nInvention in its earliest form (from around 1965 to 1969). Looking
\nback at this period in the band’s history, including such noted
\nmembers as Lowell George (who later went on to front Little Feat),
\nthis should be a disc that holds a lot of promise.<\/p>\n
Instrad, it’s got a lot of outtakes from the band’s time
\ntogether (see the two cuts of “JCB & Kansas On The Bus,” “A
\nGame Of Cards” or “My Head?” as examples), many of which seem to be
\nlost without visual images to help tie things together. Likewise,
\nthe piece “Mozart Ballet,” which Zappa tells us in the liner notes
\nincluded a rubber chicken being strangled on stage and Noel Redding
\n(Jimi Hendrix Experience) being picked up and collided into another
\nMothers band member. Well, that’s all great on paper, but some of
\nus would have maybe liked to have seen these actual performances,
\n’cause the audio only just isn’t the greatest translation.<\/p>\n
It’s also song selection that causes this first part of
\nYCDTOSA5<\/i> to suffer. Half-assed efforts like “Right There,”
\n“Chocolate Halvah” and “Underground Freak-Out Music” all sound
\nhorribly dated, and are almost uncomfortable to listen to. Granted,
\nit would have been easy for Zappa to have thrown together a disc of
\nonly songs that people knew – I probably would have been harsh on
\nthat as well – but some of these songs almost were better left in
\nthe archives.<\/p>\n
And it’s not that this first disc is worthless; songs like “The
\nDowntown Talent Scout,” “Trouble Every Day” and “Baked-Bean Boogie”
\nshow just how good this band was when it was firing on all
\ncylinders. I also liked what sounded like the single version of “My
\nGuitar Wants To Kill Your Mama”.<\/p>\n
If disc one was uncomfortable, then disc two, which features
\nlive performances from Zappa’s 1982 band, can be compared to a
\ncondemned man sitting in the electric chair. Zappa often sounds
\nlike he is so tired of playing these songs that he rushes through
\nthem, not caring about quality. He also sounds the angriest I think
\nI’ve ever heard him on record; “Dancin’ Fool” is not delivered in a
\nsatirical style.<\/p>\n
What makes me the most uncomfortable is Zappa’s sudden ending to
\nthe show in Geneva (due to the audience throwing things at the
\nband; Zappa pulled the band off the stage for their safety). Again,
\nsuch a selection lives up to the set’s title, but to actually hear
\na concert being ended on an abrupt, angry note, is filled with
\ntension even today, 16 years after the ill-fated show. I don’t know
\nwhy, but I can’t defend this track’s inclusion on the set.<\/p>\n
And while Zappa claims in the liner notes that the 1982 band
\ncould play beautifully, this disc isn’t a prime example. Tracks
\nlike “Easy Meat,” “What’s New In Baltimore?” and “A Pound For A
\nBrown (On The Bus)” just don’t have the same heart and soul that
\nI’ve come to expect from Zappa releases. It almost was like the
\nband’s heart just wasn’t in the music – gang, it shows clearly on
\nthis disc.<\/p>\n
\nYCDTOSA5<\/i> is a disappointment overall, even though it has
\nsome moments that show why Zappa should have been hailed as a
\ngreater genius in his lifetime than people gave him credit for.
\nUnfortunately, this set also proves that Zappa and his band were
\nindeed human, and all humans have bad days on the job. Of the five
\nvolumes we’ve checked out to date, this is the one that could have
\neasily been left out, and should be the last one you consider
\nbuying.<\/p>\n
In December, we’ll wrap up our look at this series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5625],"rating":[11204],"class_list":["post-36011","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-frank-zappa","rating-rating-c-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36011"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}